


Part of Your World

by AJDiamond



Category: Free!
Genre: AND DRAMA, AU, BL, Fluff, Little Mermaid Elements, Love, M/M, SouMako - Freeform, but mainly rinharu, harurin - Freeform, merman, prince - Freeform, reigisa - Freeform, rinharu - Freeform, sharkbait - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-14
Packaged: 2018-04-03 10:17:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4097233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AJDiamond/pseuds/AJDiamond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*May or may not continue* Freedom, something he never knew. Something someone like him may have never known... But, all of that changed when he met him...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

_Freedom, something he never knew. Something someone like him may never know. He always had to follow the rules, follow traditions... He never got to make his own decisions, advisers would make all of his decisions. His opinion? Never relevant._

_  
To be free… to be free… it’s something he’d thought he’d never know.  But all of that changed, it was two months after his 18th birthday. The prince will never know if it was by chance or by fate that they met, all he knows is, is that he saved his life. He showed him a sight that he’d never seen before,  and had showed him how to truly be… free._


	2. Prince Rin Matsuoka

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter the life of the handsome prince, Rin Matsuoka...

_Once upon a time, there was prince. This prince was not a particularly happy person. He wasn’t miserable, but he wasn’t the happiest in the world. Sure he had all sorts of riches. Sure he had women fawning over him day after day. And sure he had power, but none of that really mattered to him. Absolutely none of it.  This prince was by far a lover of material items and sex._

__

_He loved the finer things life. Beautiful sunsets, the sounds and the smell of the ocean, the beautiful cherry blossom trees,  clear, starry nights… true love between two people…_

__

_Who is this prince, you make ask? None other Prince Rin Matsuoka, Prince of Samezuka Kingdom. He’s also known as the biggest dream in the entire kingdom. No one had their head in the clouds as much as Rin did. He dreamed of sightseeing and exploring. He dreamed of finding true love. He dreamed simply being a normal person. He dreamed of well, freedom. Yes, the young prince had it all, but the one thing he most desired was freedom. He wanted to desperately break free from the royal life and live his own life. He had no desire to run a kingdom in the first place. If his father hadn’t died from a horrible illness then he would still be king, but unfortunately tragedies do happen…._

  
_But little did he know, his life was going to turn upside down._

__

_Rin’s life changing  story begins in mid April, only couple months after he had turned 18. It was a typical day at the castle;  documents to sign, a continuous search for a bride, a dumb ball to plan for that was coming up at the end of next month. Yep a typical day…_

* * *

“Your Highness, please take a look at this girl,” said one of advisers. “She seems like your type!”

“Prince  Rin, would you like gold or silver serving plates?” asked one of the maids.

“Prince! Could you sign this, please?!”

“Oi, alright, alright.” Rin said, raising his hand. “One at a time, I swear it’s like you guys plan to ask me things all at once!”

The prince flopped onto his throne, throwing one of his legs over the armrest and resting his elbow on the other. He looked at the three with a bit of annoyance, “Alright, cupid let me see the girl. Though, I doubt I will be even slightly interested.”

The adviser gave Rin a piece of paper with a picture attached to it. The red head sighed, skimming the information about the girl. Some girl named Akira Kazuma, blah, blah, blah... A duchess… Blah, blah, blah… 17 years of age, blah, blah, blah… loves to paint and playing piano, blah, blah, blah… Boring. He sighed and looked at the picture, eh, not too bad looking, but not the best looking in the world either. Very plain. He tossed the paper and picture to the side, “Nope, not interested. Next order of business!”

“I will find a woman suitable you, Your Highness!” the older man said, picking up the paper and bowing, before taking his leave.

“Yes, yes, one day… maybe.” Rin retorted, not paying him much more attention.

“Gold or silver serving trays for the ball, my prince?” the maid asked, displaying a gold and silver tray.

Rin sighed, “Silver is fine.”

“That was also my choice! Silver it is!” The maid bowed and then also took her leave. Why did it even matter what serving trays they used? It’s not like the guests would be looking at them anyway. They’ll be looking at the food that’s on the trays more so than anything. It baffled him on why little details like those even mattered. He looked at the last man that remained, and rose a brow, “Yes? What was it that you wanted?”

“Oh, this paper  needs a signature.  It’s for a delivery?”

Rin perked up, could it be? “What is it for?” he questioned.

“For a ship.”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Rin shouted, jumping up and grabbing the paper and pen out of the man’s hand. “It’s here! My new ship is finally here!”

“Y-yes! Congratulations, Your Highness! Now if you would excuse me I must get this to the delivery man now.” The last man bowed and took his leave. Rin leapt for joy, he had been waiting for this ship for weeks. His old ship’s sails were terribly torn and while he had patched them up a million times over the years, it wasn’t going to work this time around. Well… Plus there was a leak somewhere on that ship, he nor his friends couldn’t find where said leak was.

They didn’t think much of it until one night, when Rin went out to go sailing and did not find his ship docked at the harbor. At first he thought it was stolen, but his friend, Sousuke noticed something floating on top of the water where the ship once was. Low and behold, it was ship’s flag. Rin took a closer look and found his precious ship had sunk. The SS Rin was completely obliterated. It pained him to get rid of it, but it was beyond repair at this point.

“I’ve gotta go and see it!” Rin said, running towards the backdoors of the castle.

  
“And where do you think you’re going?”

Rin stopped in his tracks and looked back, to see friend and adviser, Sousuke Yamazaki standing before him. The prince huffed and turned around, folding his arms, “My ship just arrived, Sousuke!” he began. “I just wanted to go see it!”

“Your Highness, you have a very busy schedule today and you have no time to waste.”

“Oh come on! I’m only going to take a peek,”

“I know what your “peeks” are, Rin,” Sousuke began, as he approached him. “And they are normally hour long peeks. This especially applies when it comes to ships or boats or even anything that has to do with the water!”

“I promise this time, I’ll take a look and then- !”

Sousuke shook his head and grabbed a hold of Rin’s collar gently. He knew how this guy was. If he wasn’t talking about his dreams, he was talking about boats or water. He loved that stuff, so much that he actually talked about living in the water. He had to tell him a million times it wasn’t possible, but Rin insisted he would one day make it possible. There were days where Sousuke wondered where this guy’s mind even was.

“No. No peeks, no ship. It’s time for your meeting with the rulers of the other kingdoms. Then after the meeting, there has been a date set for you and Princess Yukiko of the Narbari kingdom at 3PM, at 4:30PM there is a meeting with cooks to discuss the meal for the upcoming ball…” Sousuke looked down at his list, holding onto to Rin’s collar firmly so he wouldn’t get away. “Then 6PM is of course dinner, at 7PM…”

“Oiii…. I’ll never get to see my ship!” Rin shouted, cutting Sousuke off. “I have all this crap to do!”

“Well, maybe if you quit complaining and get ready then maybe it would get done a little faster…” Sousuke said with a sigh. “It’s not like I wanna escort you to all this…”

Rin looked back, “You wanna see the ship too, right Sousuke?” he asked with a grin.

Sousuke closed his eyes and smiled, “I’ve already seen it.”

“Wh-what?! Are you serious?!” Rin shouted. “Come on Sousuke, it’s not fair! Let me go see it!”

“Let’s go, your Highness,” he simply said, leading me towards my room. “The faster you move, the faster this may get done.”

* * *

Rin sat at the head the table, utterly bored at out of his mind, listening to the “issues” of each kingdom. Didn’t he just have meeting with these people two months ago? Did things change that drastically over time? He sighed gently, leaning back in his chair, gently tapping his fingers on the armrest, looking between the people as they spoke.

He squirmed a bit, he had to wear this stupid monkey suit yet again. He hated wearing things that made him uncomfortable, and this made him extremely itchy, thus making him uncomfortable.  And worst part about it? He had to wear this all day until 8:30PM where he was free for at least an hour or two. He straightened the black sash that went across his red coat, and then adjusted the white gloves that were way too small for his hands. He wanted to wear his black ones, but of course they were no wear to be found.

Rin sighed and looked out the window, he could see the ocean and just a small glimpse of his glorious ship. It was a beautiful day, it was perfect to be out on the water. The sun was shining, the sky was clear with not a single cloud. He sighed longingly as he turned his head fully towards the window, “I wanna be out there…” Rin thought. “But nooo, I have to be cooped up inside…”

“Prince Rin, did you hear me?”

Rin looked over and at the people around the table, “Huh?”

“Your Highness, King Yamamoto asked when you were to be married.” Sousuke said. “You are of age now.”

Rin looked at the older man, and ran his fingers through his hair. How many times a day would he be asked this dumb question, “To be honest, your Majesty, I’m really unsure.”

“Why is that my boy? Are you unable to find a suitable wife here in your own kingdom? I know my daughter, Princess Mei, has always spoken very fondly of you.”

“Oh, well, I don’t believe that’s the problem.” Rin re-adjusted himself in his seat.

“Then what is the problem?” he questioned.

“Well, I find myself not being too attracted to girls.” Rin replied, simply, tightening the rubber band that held back his hair.

Everyone gasped, looking at each other with concerned looks. He looked down and scoffed a bit, an expected reaction. Rin rose his hand, “I’m kidding, I just haven’t found a suitable girl for me yet. I will find my bride, eventually.”

“That eventually must be soon prince,” one of the duchess at the table chirped, winking at him.

Rin cleared his throat and looked away, “Yes, right. Understood.”

“I know Prince Rin will find a beautiful bride, and have a gorgeous wedding!”

“Yes, I second that! The prince of Samezuka is a fine young man!”

Everyone around the table then began to discuss how beautiful his wedding would be and how he was a good young man. Rin rolled his eyes, and slumped back in his seat, these people…. His choice of who he was going to marry or how his wedding was going to be wasn’t even his choice! Rin’s attention went back outside the window, _“When,”_ Rin thought. _“When will I become free? Hell, will I ever be free?”_

 


	3. Introduction 2

_Free. He had always known freedom, he never felt like he was caged in. He had always been free to go where he pleased, well everywhere but the surface. The ocean on the other hand knew no bounds. He had everything he needed in life. He had good friends, a beautiful home, all the mackerel he could eat, and could swim as much as he wished. But somehow his life… seemed to be somewhat… empty. It felt as if a piece of him were missing and he wasn’t quite sure what that piece even was._

  
_That missing piece, that one missing piece... He wanted to find that missing piece. It became somewhat of a drive for him. He thought he’d never find what he was looking for, but that was all before…. All before he met him…  Somehow, he didn't quite understand how, **he** was what was missing from his life… _


	4. Haruka Nanase

_Once upon time there was a merman. Yes, a merman, they do exist. He was a fairly happy fellow, he wasn’t extremely happy, but he wasn’t a sad, miserable creature either. He lived a quiet, tranquil life in ocean, bordering the Samezuka Kingdom. There were hardly any troubles or worries for him. His life was normal. Maybe… a little too normal for his liking now. At first, when he was sixteen, he thought that’s what he wanted, a plain and normal life. But now normal, was a bit dull. It was the same things over and over again._

__

_He also felt as if there was something missing in his life. What? He wasn’t even sure himself, but he felt as if he needed to find this something. He wasn’t all sure where to look. Perhaps, what he was seeking wasn’t something he could find in Iwatopia._

__

_Who is this lost merman, you ask? His name is Haruka, Haruka Nanase, or just Haru for short. His story begins in mid April, yet another typical day under the sea._

__

_Or so he thought._

* * *

Haru lay on his back, staring up at the ocean’s surface. It seemed the sun was out today and the sky was completely cloudless. He reached up to towards the sun, the sun always looked like this. Squiggly and strange, he couldn’t help but wonder what it looked like from the surface. He slowly lowered his arm and placed it back on his side.

“Oh, there you are Haru.” he heard a voice say.

He looked over and saw his childhood best friend, Makoto, swimming towards him. He turned his head and looked back up at the sky, “What are you doing? Sky gazing again?”

Haru said nothing and nodded, continuing to stare up at the sky.

Makoto looked up, “Looks like it’s a pretty day up there, huh?”

“Makoto?” Haru began. “What do you think it’s like up there? On the surface?”

“Hmm, I can’t say for sure,” he said, matter of factly. “I’ve only heard stories about the surface, some good, and some bad.”

“Huh… Do you ever feel like you just want to… take… a peek?”

Mako was taken back by his friend’s question. Was he thinking what he thought he was thinking? No, no, he couldn’t be. Haru wasn’t rebellious like that, he knew the rules of Iwatopia. No mermaid or merman was allowed to go to surface, no matter what. That way, no humans would ever know of their existence.

He looked down at him and chuckled, “I thought about what it may look like, but I’m not too interested in the surface world.”

“Oh, I see.” Haru said in reply, expecting that answer from Makoto.

“Come on, Rei and Nagisa are waiting for us. We’re cleaning around the ocean today. Seems like the humans are littering more and more these days.”  

“Oh, yeah?” Haru sat up. “I guess I haven’t really noticed.”

“You are usually the first one to see garbage,” Makoto said, looking over at him. “You’ve seemed like you’ve been somewhere else lately. Is there something wrong?”

Haru looked at his friend, he knew he could trust Makoto, he knew he could tell him anything. Would he fully understand? No not always, but he would at least try to understand. Haru hadn’t told anyone how he was feeling or what he was thinking, it may be a good  thing to finally get it out in the open. He looked away and nodded, “I’ll tell you along the way.”

“Okay, is it anything serious?”  Makoto started off in the direction he came in.

“I think so,” Haru replied, following after him.

“Oh? Go ahead, tell me what’s on your mind.”

“Well I…” Haru paused, trying to find the right words to say. “I guess. you could say…”

Haruka paused again, and sighed softly. Makoto looked over with a concerned look on his face. He knew Haru wasn’t always good at expressing himself or sharing his feelings, “It’s okay, you can tell me, Haru.” Makoto reassured him. “Tell me in the best way you can.”

Haru pressed his lips together, “I feel empty inside.” he finally stated simply. “I feel like there is something missing in my life.”

Makoto blinked, “What do you think is missing?”

“I’m not all that sure… to be honest.” Haru touched his heart as his eyes lowered, “But, lately I have been trying to find what that ‘something’ is.”

“Have you narrowed ‘it’ down to anything?” Makoto asked, turning the corner.

Haru shook his head. He didn’t even have a clue to what ‘it’ even may be. He wasn’t sure if that something that he was looking could be even found down here. He felt as if, it may be someplace else. Maybe… He looked up at the surface. Maybe even up there?

“Well, I’m sure, whatever it is you are looking for,” Makoto began. “You will find it.”

Haruka looked down and over at Makoto, his signature smile on his face, “Do you really think so?” Haru asked.

“Yes! I have nothing but total faith in you, Haru. If you need any help along the way, you can always ask me, Rei, or even Nagisa!”

Haru nooded and smiled a bit, “Thanks, Makoto…”

“Anytime,” Makoto retorted. “Now, Rei and Nagisa should be…” He was cut off, by the sound, of their other friend’s voices, “Nagisa-kun! Stop that!” Rei exclaimed.

“Come on Rei-chan! Just one more!” they heard Nagisa reply.

“What on earth is going on?”

Haru shrugged and swam over with Makoto where the commotion was. To their, well more like to Makoto’s surprise, Rei and Nagisa were hand in hand, kissing in the open yet again. Haru sighed, rolling his eyes a bit. Makoto covered his eyes, a bright blush stained his cheeks, “Y-you guys!”

Rei quickly pulled away from Nagisa, now a blushing, babbling mess, “Makoto-kun, Haruka-kun!” he exclaimed. “I…! He…! We…!”  

Nagisa smiled, “You guys were taking a while, so we decided to pass the time! Right, Rei-chan?”

Haru blinked, he didn’t know why they felt like they needed to explain their actions. Quite frankly he was pretty used to their kissing spurts now. He was somewhat surprised that Makoto wasn’t used to it. It was almost an everyday thing. He and Makoto would invite them to go place, or whatever, and they would always  end up doing something lovey dovey like. From kissing, to holding hands, to hugging, to… other things…. He was sure there was more, but he never paid enough attention to know what. It was like they were a newlywed married couple. If Haru wasn’t the type of person he was, it would have surely made him sick by now. But honestly, he just happy they were happy.

“Nagisa-kun! I told you we should have stopped!”

“But, I love kissing Rei-chan!” Nagisa swam up and kissed his forehead. “I love him after all!”

  
“Na-Nagisa-kun…” Rei stammered, blushing slightly harder than he already was.

Makoto uncovered his face, “Tha-that’s all very nice Nagisa, but such display of affection should maybe shared in... private?”

“But, we were in private until you guys showed up!” Nagisa protested.

“He means in an enclosed room, Nagisa-kun…” Rei said, pressing his fingers to his forehead.

“Ohhh! That makes sense…!”

Haru cleared his throat a bit, “So, shall we begin cleaning? Makoto, Rei, Nagisa?” he asked. “Or are we going to continue to talk about where to and not to kiss?”

Makoto nodded, “Right, we should get started before it gets any later. Rei, did you bring the trash bags?”

“Ah, yes! Right here,” Rei swam up and gave Haru and Makoto a gray, cloth, shoulder bag, inside them were his own homemade trash pickup sticks.

“Alright, everyone! Let’s getting cleaning!”

“I’m going pick more trash than all of you!” Nagisa shouted.

“No way, I will be known as the best cleaner of Iwatopia!” Rei exclaimed.

“Guys, it’s not like this a race or contest….” Makoto said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Haru sighed, going on his way, “So noisy…” he said to himself.

But… at least they all seemed to be... complete.

* * *

Everyone was split up, Nagisa and Rei went to the south side of Iwatopia, Haru and Makoto went to  the north side, closer to shores of the Samezuka Kingdom. It always was like that when they split up to clean the ocean floor.  It’s not that Nagisa and Rei couldn’t be trusted… it was just... Nagisa and Rei couldn’t be trusted to be on the north side of Iwatopia. Like it was said before, it was much closer to the shores of the Samezuka Kingdom.   

It was always Makoto’s worst fear that one day, Nagisa would have the crazy idea that he and Rei should peek up at the surface and be spotted by a human. Then from there their lives would be filled with hectic chaos. Humans would be hunting to find them and capture them, do weird experiments on them, get pictures, and whatever else they could think of. That’s why the two were absolutely forbidden to clean the north side of ocean.

“There sure is a lot of garbage here.” Makoto commented. “My bag is almost full.”

“Same.” Haru remarked.

He picked up the a piece of plastic on the end of his stick and placed it in his bag. Then began to pick a piece of paper, but then stopped. He bent down and picked it up, it was a, what’s the word? Photo? Yes, he was sure that was it. It was a photo of a young lady and young man beside her. Haru’s eyes danced with curiosity.

He looked at the girl, who was actually quite pretty. She had long red hair and bright red eyes, a big smile was spread across her face. She looked to be about sixteen years old. His eyes then wandered to the young man in the photo, his eyes slightly widened, he was actually… pretty…. well... handsome. He also had red hair and bright red eyes, just like the girl beside him. The only difference was that his hair was shorter and his eyes were a lot more narrow.

_“Siblings?”_ he thought. They had to be, they looked too similar not to be.

He continued to study the guy’s face, a smile, no a grin, on his face. But, even though he was grinning in the photo, it seemed like he was… not too happy. He stood tall in the photo, and was dressed in these fancy clothes. It looked like he was someone of importance. He slowly turned over the photo, there was some writing on the back, but he couldn’t make out what it said. The writing seemed to be in some foreign language.

“Haru!” Makoto called, swimming towards him. “Are you alright?”

“I found something.” Haru told him, turning towards him.

“What did you find? Some kind of treasure?”

“A, um, photo?” He showed him the photo he found of the young lady and young man. Makoto took it and looked at it.

“This is a photo. And these two look like they’re royal.” Makoto turned over the back of photo. Haru looked at the writing again, then at Makoto, “Can you read what that says?” he asked.

“Yes, it says,  _Prince Rin Matsuoka and Princess Gou Matsuoka of the Samezuka Kingdom, January 24th._ ”

“Prince and Princess of the Samezuka Kingdom?” Haruka looked towards the surface. “Right above us… ”

“So it seems.” Makoto said, giving Haru back the photo. “It’s a shame that they lost their family photo.”

Haru said nothing, but looked back down at the picture, looking mainly at the man called Prince Rin. He was somehow drawn to him, he wasn’t sure why, but for some odd reason he was.

_“Prince Rin, huh?”_ he thought. _“I wonder…  what kind of person he is… and what…. is his world is like?  Is his life full, is it… complete?”_

 


End file.
